Improvement in the mawdtactttre of iron and steel



2 Sheets Sheet 1.

H. BESSBMBR.

MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL.

No. 94,995 Patented Sept. 21, 1869.

m ,1 7? l; 2 W in a g n 55 iii 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

H. BESSEMER. MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL.

No. 94,995 Patented Sept. 21, 1869.

Wifz ewe J.

(tidied tatrs figment (Millie.

HENRY BESSEMER, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

Letters Pun-at No. 94,995, dared Sqitember 21, 1869; patented in England, March 21,1868..

mPROVI-JMENT III was: MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL.

The Bolndulo referred to in the" Letters Patent and making put of the lm To all to whom it may concern Be it known that I, llnxnY Bussniunn, of Queen Street Place, Gannon street, in the city of London, England, a subject of the Queen of (lreat Britain, have in vented or discovered new and useful Improvements in the ll/lauuihcture 01' Refined Iron and of Malhrable Iron and Steel, and I, the said HENRY linssnnun, do hereby declare the nature of the said invenlion, and in what numner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following slatenu-nl: thereof; that is to say- M y improvements consist in tracing or injecting into molten crude iron, or wmeltcd pig-iron, or other earbnrelof iron, in a more or less refined-state, streams or jets of fused or fluid nitrate of soda, or nitrate of mlash, or other liised or iinid substances which contain orare capable of evolving oxygen, when brought in contact with lluid iron, such substances being used alone, or in conjunction with oxides, peroxides, or silirales of the peroxides of iron or manganese. The streams or jets of fused or fluid matters are projected downward, at any desired angle, from nozzles or toyeres, the oriliees of which are situated above the mean level or upper surface of the iiuid iron to be operated upon, a portion of the said fused or fluid-,matters, as well as a portion of the cinder or oxide produced in the process, being again carried down into the molten metal, as an induced current, caused by the passage of the said jets or streams, which will pass downward through any fluid matters floating on the surface, and penetrate the fluid metal, and be there more or less decomposial, and operate upon the metal, and the impurities contained therein, and will more or less decarbonize and reline the iron, and convert it into steel, or into malleable iron, or into a more orless refined castiron, dependent on the quantity and constituents of the fused or fluid matters injected therein.

The iron to be lmerated upon by the injection of the said l'used or fluid matters, may be contained in a vessel mounted on trunnious, similar to those essels known as converters, and now generally employed in tho-Bessemer process of immutacturing malleable iron and steel, or the meta-inner be treated in a cylindrical or olher iixed vessel or chamber, lined with firebrieh, gannister, or other suitable reli'aetory nmterial; or, in lieu thereof, the iron may be operated upon in the hearth ofa liiiery-iiu'uaoe, similar to those generally employed in refining crude or pig-iron for puddling.

'heu employing such a furnace for the purpose of my invention, I arrange a set of air-tuyeres along one side thereof, for melting the. pig-metal, and partially refining the same, and on the other side 01 the hearth I employ a separate set of tnyeres or nozzles, for the purpose of injecting the aforesaid fused or fluid mattens into the molten iron, or, instead of this arrangement, tllefinery furnace may have three ordinary airt-uyeres on each side thereof, with two small tuyeres tor the iiriection of the fluid matters on each side of the furnace, occupying the spaces between the airtuyeres.

The process in this finely-furnace may be discontinued while the metal is in the condition of highlyrelined cast-iron, approaching to steel, or it may be continued until a more or less perfectly-malleable metal is obtained, suitable for melting in crucibles, or otherwise, to form steel, or the metal may be allowed to granulate or assume a more or less solid condition,

with or without manipulation with an iron bar or rabbio, and be removed from the finely-furnace in a. condition to be, formed into bars or blooms; or, in lieu thereof, the process may be carried on in a reverberatory or pnddling-iimmce, heated by solid fuel, or by means of heated air and gas, in either of which lastnamed cases it will be preferable to make the furnace much larger and deeper in the hearth than is usual in ordinary puddliug-furnaces.

Mill-scales, iron-ore, or other matters now employed in puddling iron, may also be employed in this process.

When the iron to be treated by the means hereinbefore described contains much phosphorus, it will be preferable, by regulating or stopping for a time the jets of fused or fluid 'matters before named, to allow such metal, during the process, to pass into or assume a more or less pasty, granular, or solidified condition, in older to its more ready parting with the phosphorus it contains to the cinder or other fluid matters in contact with the metal.

When iron is so treated, it may be when out of the furnace in a more or less solid state, and be worked in a squcezer, or in the rolls, or under a steam-hammer, and be made at once into bars or blooms; or, in lieu thereof, an addition may be made to it of some fluid pig-iron, of a good quality, (by preference containing mauganese,) before removing the metal from the furnace or vessel in which it is treated, and the whole may then be melted down together, and run off in a fluid state into a ladle, and made into ingots or castm s.

lsor the purposes of my present invention, I prefer to melt the said nitrate of soda, nitrate of potash, or

other fusible matters, in a jacketed iron vessel, by-

meaus of highly-heatedatmospheric air, or superheated steam, aud to use the pressure of suclr air or steam to act on the surface of such fluid matters, in order that they may thus be driven downward upon the fluid metal, with such force as to penetrate far into the molten mass, and put the same into rapid motion, and thus in turn bring all parts thereof under operation. This motion, in cylindrical vessels, is best attained by placing the jet-pipes at a tangent .to the circumference. And in order that the mode by which I prefer to carry into practice my invention may be fully understood, I have hereunto annexed a sheet of drawings, in which a fixed cylindrical vessel, suitable for the purpose, is shown in vertical section at Figure l, and in horizontal section at Figure 2.

a is outer casing, of plate-iron, with a thick lining of gannister, or other rciiactory material, b. The vesscl is made in two parts, united together with a flange at 0, so that the upper part may be lifted off the lower one when desired, and thus g ve access to the interior.

The upper part of the vessel is domed, and terminates in an opening, (I, through which the sparks and gaseous products given oft during the process mav escape.

A large loop oi iron, 2, is jointed externally to the mouth of the vessel, so as to be moved from over the opening :2. During, the. process, this loop serves to attach the upper part ot'the vessel to the crane when it is to be removed.

On two opposite sides of the vessel, there are tuyeres, dipping downward at an angle, and inclined toward a tangent to the circumference of the vessel. 'lhesc tuyeres consist of an outer iron shell, f, .in which water may circulate, as usual in water-tuyercs.

A fire-clay nozzle, n, is fitted into the water-tuyere, and into this nozzle the injection-pipe p enters, and is made tight by a ramming of loam, r.

At. s there is a screwed cap, to give access to the injection-pipe p, so tha it may be cleared out with a rod, when necessary.

A branch of the injection-pipe passes upward into the chznnber t, which contains the fluid to be injected into the metal. This chamber t has an outer jacket, 1:, leaving a space between it and the chamber t, for the cilculatiou of highly-heated air or superheated steam, which is admitted by the pipe and cock 1:, and escapes through a small nozzle, is.

On the upper part of the jacket, a. smiling-box, 11, is formed, through which a rod, 3 passes. 'lhis rod may be raised or lowered by any convenient lever-arrangement, or by a screw, as commonly employed in sluice-valves, in the interior of the chamber 13. lhe rod y is made tubular, having numerous holes to admit air or steam to its interior, as shown at y". The lower part of this tubular rod is formed into a. cone-valve, fitting into a seating, g, the injection-pipe, prevents the passage of any fluid from the chamber r, so long as the valve is closed.

It is an opening or screw-plug, through which the nitrates, or other matters to be injected into the fluid iron, are admitted to the chamber t, either in asolid form, and there to undergo fusion by the application of heated air or steam, or they may be admitted to the chamber t in a previously-fused or fluid state, and be merely retained in that condition until required.

A pipe and cock, 1', supplies air or steam, under pressure, to the interior of the chamber t, for the purpose of acting powerfully on the surface of the fluid, and causing it to be projected with such force on to the surface of tho fluid iron as to enter into and pass down to, or nearly to, the lowest part of it.

The jacketed chamber t is supported by a bracket, j, to the casing of the vessel 01, and a similar jacketed chamber, not shown in the drawings, is also provided for each tuyere.

Before nsiny, the apparai us, a coke fire maybe made and, by closing the orifice oi the aperture oi which is then closed.

in the interior of the converting-vcsscl, which should be well heated. The fuel may be supplied through the opening d, and a current ofair be allowed to enter a hole in the door 7:, shown by dots, which hole, like that in an ordinary toundefls cnpola, will also serve for the discharge oi'thc converted nn-tnl. I, however, prefer to urge the fire, by a blast oi .iir introduced at the said opening, by a movable nozzle leading from a fan, or to provide one or more small tnycres in'the lower part of the vessel, i'orthc admission of the blast, and which tuyercs may be stopped up by a plug oi loam, previous to the admission of the metal to the vessel. The residue of the fuel, alter heating the vessel, may rcmailrin it, or it may he removed through the door Ir, which must then be loomed up prior to the admission of the metal to the vessel.

The vessel having thus been treated, and the nitrates or other-matters rendered fluid in the chamber 8, the fluid may be run into the. vessel at the spout 1, Air or steam, under a pressure, by preference, of not less than titty pon'nds per square inch, and at a temperature oi about 50 Fahrenheit above that at which the nitrate of soda or other substance which is being used fuses, is then admitted by the cock i to the chamber 1. It will iunnediatcly rush through the openings Y, and pass down through the hollow rod Y, and through the injection-pipe p, clearing the passage, and heating the pipe and tuyere through which the'tluid will have to pass. lhe rod ,1 may then be raised, when the fluid nitrate, or other matter contained in the chamber 2, will be driven through the valve formed in the lower part of the rod Y, and, passing down the pipe 1), will be driven into the fluid metal, and be diffused in a finelydividcd state through the metal. The tuyeres, being placed at a tangcnn-w ill cause a rapid rotation of the metal, so that all parts will be brought undcrthc influence ot the jets, and be equally acted upon. When the metal has been thus treated to the desired extent, it may bcrun out of the vessel, or removed through the door Ir, or it may be taken out by removing the upper part of the vessel, or, in lieu thereof, a further portion of molten carburet of iron may be run into the vessel, and be mixed with the converted metal, previous to running it oil.

The oxygen-yielding material which I believe to be, best suited for use in the process above set forth, 1 believe to be nitrate of soda. The quantity employed will depend on the quality of the iron, and of the product desired, as is well understrmd.

\Vhen oxides are used in conjunction with the nitrates, they may either be mixed therewith or placed on the snriiice of the melted metal, so as to be carried down into it by the induced current.

Having thus described my invention, and the manner in which it may be carried into practical operation, I desire it to be understood, that What I claim as my invention, is-- lhc lbrcin or injeoiingdownward into molten crude iron,or rcmelted pig or other carburci' of iron, strcan'is or jets of fused or liquid nitrate of soda, or nitrate oi potash, or other fused or liquid substam-es which contain or are capable oi evolving, oxygen, when brouglit in contact with liquid iron.

HENRY BESSEMER.

Witnesses:

DAVI). Loxnsnox,

Caij'urd Hill, Forest Hill; G. l Wannnx,

No.17 Grace Church street, London, E. C. 

